fiscal cliff negotiations. take a listen. >> flt we'if we're going to be about deficit reduction and debt reduction it's going to have to be a matter of shared sacrifice at least as long as i'm president and i'm going to be president for the next four years i hope. [ cheers and applause ] >> joining us now, julian epstein, a democratic strategist and dr. james peterson, an associate professor at lehigh university and a contributor to thegrio.com. welcome, both of you. julian, when you hear the president talk like that, do you get the sense that the white house believes it will not be blamed if no deal materializes and also now we hear the house is going to take a pass on a vote today. >> yeah, i think the house will likely vote tomorrow or the next day, so that won't matter so much. i think all the polling shows that the public was blaming and would blame the republicans if we had an economic calamity that resulted from not having a deal, and i think as to the president's performance today, i think it is import